


Call Shotgun

by drQuinzel



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Canon Universe, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-17 20:00:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14196624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drQuinzel/pseuds/drQuinzel
Summary: As Chorus focuses on preparing for war against Charon and the mercenaries, Sarge finds himself drawn to Emily. Maybe he finally found a good replacement for Grif.A Slow Burn SargeGrey fic





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't seen any long SargeGrey fics, and decided to do something about it. Writing this more to quench my SargeGrey thirst but leave a comment if you think it's worth continuing!

Fortunately, it only took two weeks to transfer the rest of the New Republic to Armonia. It took a little longer to convince everyone that there no longer was a New Republic or a Federal Army, there was just the people of Chorus. Dr. Emily Grey was thankful that, since she lived in Armonia to begin with, she didn’t have to move as much stuff. 

She was stationed in the hospital and given more staff as Doyle and Kimball both agreed on promoting her to Chief Medical Officer, not like there was much competition anyway. Her new rank and increase in staff didn’t help as much as she wanted though, as the number of people who visited her only doubled in number. And here she thought she would finally have more time to test her experiments. 

Emily was in her office reviewing the latest inventory report when a solider wearing a Fed uniform walked in and saluted her. “Dr. Grey, General Kimball and General Doyle are calling you for a meeting. They said it’s pretty urgent.”

Emily sighed. Of course this happens when she just finished unpacking. Tucking a loose strand of her black hair behind her ear before putting her helmet back on. “I thought they’d still be bickering over who gets the bigger office.”

“Uhm actually, I think that’s what the meeting’s about.” 

She shouldn’t have been so surprised.

* * *

 

As Dr. Grey neared the war room, she could already hear the voices of Doyle and Kimball, as well as a few other familiar ones. 

“Jesus, I haven’t heard this much bickering since your girlfriend was still around.” She heard Captain Tucker say. 

“Yeah fuck you too, man.” She heard the A.I. Church reply loudly over the shouting of the two leaders. 

Emily walked into see Kimball and Doyle seething, and glaring down one another, their foreheads touching, as if trying to push the other one down. Carolina, and by extension Church, Wash, and Tucker were in the room as well. The four not involved in the fight looked at the doctor as she went to stand beside them. 

“Ah, there you are.” Wash said, acknowledging the doctor. “Hey Kimball, Doyle, Dr. Grey’s here. We can start the meeting now.” Wash said. 

“Not until Doyle here admits that I have more work to do, and more battle experience, so it only makes sense that as the busier one, I get the bigger office.” Kimball said, not taking her eyes off of the Fed leader.

Doyle scoffed. “Vanessa my dear, with those points, that just means you’ll be too busy in the war room than in the office. I’d hate for that much space to go to waste.”

“Actually, it won’t go to waste.” Carolina said, forcibly pushing the two away from each other. “Because Dr. Grey will be using it.”

“What!?” Kimball and Doyle yelled, whipping their heads to look at the doctor.

Emily could only grin. Knowing she would get a bigger work area beat the thought of realizing she’d have to move again so quickly. “Yay!”

Carolina crossed her arms as she let Church explain the rest. “The hospital will now have double the people coming in, and since Dr. Grey isn’t only Chief Medical Officer, but also our top researcher in everything alien, she needs the space for, you know, research and shit. So you can stop fighting like children now and actually run your army.”

Kimball glared at the doctor, at Church, then at Carolina, before finally letting out a heavy sigh. “Fine. If you put it that way.”

Doyle nodded. “Indeed. I suppose Emily rather deserves it for all she’s done.”

Dr. Grey jumped and clapped. “Yes! Now I just need people to help carry my stuff. Any takers? Tucker?”

“Hell no, I got more important stuff to do than carry your shit. But I can get Caboose to help you out.”

“Actually, Caboose is taking Freckles out for a walk. Why not be a gentleman for once, Tucker?” Wash said.

“Oh, believe me I’m always a gentleman, unless they want me to be a little rough. Bow Chicka Bow Wow. So yeah, fine I’ll help Miss Psycho Out.”

“Now that we have that settled, let’s move on to what we actually all came to meet for.” Church said, looking at Carolina to continue.

“Right. A few hours ago, our scouts managed to secure an abandoned Charon complex. The mercs even left behind a few rations and supplies.”

It was Wash’s turn to speak. “Carolina will lead a small team and continue raiding more bases. Hopefully we can even find alien tech that Dr. Grey can reverse engineer.”

Emily laughed. “And I thought you were going to give me a challenge. Now every mission will feel like Christmas! And Agent Carolina’s Santa!” 

“…Right. Well, that’s about it. I’ll stay here and take over training the troops. They’ll need all the help they can get.” Wash finished.

“The scout team should be reporting back soon. I told them to meet you, Dr. Grey, to account for injuries. They’ll be dropping by your _new_ office.” Carolina said in a teasing tone that was not missed by Kimball and Doyle. 

Even with their helmets on, Emily could sense the heat of their glares.

She chose to ignore them.

“Thank you, Agent Carolina. In that case, I better start moving… again! C’mon Captain Tucker, and be sure not to drop anything. Some of my stuff could cause an explosion big enough to blow up the Capital!” Emily said as she ran out of the war room, excited.

Tucker trailed behind her. “Yeah I’m just gonna ignore that. See ya guys later.”

As Emily picked up her pace, she couldn’t help but feel excited to finally be out of the hospital and doing more research. Sure taking care of people always made her feel good, but discovering things no one else but her can, what more could a genius ask for?

She walked even faster. “Tucker try and keep up!”

“Oh now you sound like 80% of the chicks I hooked up with.” He said, slightly out of breath.

“What?”

* * *

 

Tucker was just setting down the last microscope when a flash of white appeared and suddenly there were three Red soldiers in the room with them.

“Guess we popped into the right place!” Donut exclaimed.

Emily waved cheerfully. “Hey fellas! So, how did the mission go?”

The red leader growled. “It was one hundred percent a complete failure! There weren’t any space pirates to shoot! And my trigger finger is still waiting to trigger!”

Grif scoffed. “How was that a complete failure? It was the best kind of mission. I didn’t have to do shit, and we got a base from the bad guys _without_ having to fight bad guys. I wish every mission were like that. It makes me excited to be a soldier.”

The Colonel continued to growl and mumble. Donut placed his hand on his leader’s shoulder comfortingly. “Well I was ready to blow my own load of ammo on them too, Sarge. But don’t worry, the next time we come for them, we’ll come for them hard!”

Emily glanced at Tucker. “…Don’t you usually say your line when-“

“Oh, never on Donut. It’s too easy. You just get used to him."

“No you don’t.” Grif and Sarge said.

Emily giggled. Over time she had come to understand why the troops liked the Reds and Blues so much, as she had grown fond of them herself. She loved seeing their dynamics, how different each individual was, but how well they worked together. They outsmarted Felix and Locus for starters. Unfortunately she still hasn’t conducted psychoanalyses for them. But they do say experience is the best form of learning anyway.

And she loved spending time with them all 

“Even if you didn’t fight space pirates today, are there any injuries I should be aware of?” Emily asked, priming her scanner 

Sarge stepped forward. “Well now that you mention it, I do have an itch.”

“Oh?” She tilted her head. In their armor, they shouldn’t have been able to sustain any diseases from the environment and-

“My trigger finger’s itchin like crazy!”

Grif sighed heavily. “Oh my god.”

Emily could only smile. “Unless you plan on shooting someone in this room-“

“An excellent idea!” Sarge said already aiming his shotgun at Grif 

“-which you shouldn’t!” She quickly added, prompting Sarge to lower his shotgun. “Then you three can be on your way! I have a date with a robotic arm.”

“What do you mean?” Sarge asked curiously.

Emily grinned. She loved talking about her experiments. “Yeah, I like to tinker with robotics when I have the time. After reattaching human limbs for so long, you get bored and crave for something more, you know? A”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the woman who runs the only hospital on the planet.” Tucker announced. Grif grunted in agreement.

Sarge ignored them as he approached the doctor. “You mind if I tag along on this date as a third wheel or something? I dabble in robotics myself. Not to brag but I actually made Simmons a cyborg not too long ago.”

Emily squealed with glee in the highest pitch her voice could achieve. “Colonel! You never told me!”

“Time to go before they volunteer us as test subjects. If you need me, Sarge, ask for Simmons instead.” Grif said, quickly leaving the room with Tucker close behind him.

Donut waved at them. “You can use me as a test subject anytime, guys. I can handle any needle you stick in me!”

“Donut! Now!” Grif yelled from across the hall. The lightish red soldier finally followed his teammate out.

* * *

 

Sarge chuckled as the door closed. “Well that’s one way to get rid of-“

“How is he classified as cyborg? What part of him did you replace? Did you attach anything to his brain? Oh my gosh does he have neural implants? Can he feel pain? Can you control him? Was it voluntary? I’m not judging if it wasn’t but…” Emily asked so fast Sarge didn’t think she even breathe in between sentences.

The Colonel smiled behind his helmet. Now here was someone who appreciated his scientific mind, well obviously aside from the faithful Lopez and the stupid yet oddly charming Caboose, who once called him a genius when he fixed the Blue’s Christmas lights 

Caboose simply forgot to plug it in. Still counts though!

Hit shotgun set aside, Sarge used his arms to hold Emily by her shoulders. “Whoa, slow down there little lady. I’d be happy to answer all your questions.”

Dr. Grey calmed down, and tilted her head at him. “Oh, are you sure? I mean, I know how busy you are what with the army, and you must be tired after just getting back from your mission. And hungry! I couldn’t possibly-“

“Dr. Grey, darling, it’s fine. Like I said, the mission was boring, and talking about robotics with an intelligent and pretty lady like yourself will make my day brighter already. 

Emily laughed softly, and Sarge smiled at how sweet the sound was. He was always fond of the doc, even during their first meeting. He remembered how intimidating Locus was, and how she, a civilian, told the mercenary off, and said mercenary actually complied! She never faltered, never flinched. And was one hell of a torturer.

Emily was a sweet girl, but deadly when she needed to be. She was just the kind of soldier Sarge wanted on his team. Now if only he could get rid of Grif and convince her to join up with them…

Suddenly there was a ping that sounded like it came from Emily. “Oh sorry, Colonel, that’s the hospital. Hello?” Emily asked, talking to what Sarge assumed was her radio.

“Dr. Grey, there’s a… uhm…” the line on the other side said.

“Yeeeees?” she asked in a sweet sing-song voice, but Sarge could tell she was getting impatient.

“So uhm… one of the Feds tried to drive a warthog but it made a weird sound and didn’t start.”

“That’s a mechanic’s problem, not mine.”

“Ma’am… the warthog wouldn’t start because there was another soldier underneath fixing it. The weird sound was him yelling and getting his arm mangled.”

Sarge rolled his eyes. This army was as bad as the Blues sometimes.

“Fine. Prep him for surgery and I’ll be right there. Grey out.” She turned to face the Colonel.

“You know this isn’t the first time I got a call like that. But what can you do?” Sarge had to admire how positive she still sounded.

“Hmm, get me the name of the soldier who caused the injury. I’ll make sure he’s first to join Wash’s new training regime. I’d give him dish duty but Kimball makes Grif do it already and who am I to ruin such a wonderful punishment.”

Emily looked down at the scattered notes on her table before looking back up at Sarge. “Rain check on that date?”

The red leader grinned. “Oh so it _is_ a date?”

“You’re tagging along as a third wheel, remember? Gotta make your way up first.” She teased back. “Well, these soldiers won’t fix themselves up, unfortunately. But maybe they can…” Suddenly she was pressing a button on her suit. Note to self: research more on healing units. Ask Church.” Then she turned back to Sarge. “See ya around, Colonel!” She yelled as she left him alone.

Sarge watched her walk away before picking up his shotgun. Later, while having lunch alongside his men, he found himself waiting for his next conversation with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already had a draft for this chapter and decided to post it right away. Hopefully I can get the third chapter out soon.

Sarge fired another round from his shotgun before taking cover behind a rock.

“You know, maybe if you got a gun with better range, you’d actually hit someone.” Tucker said, ducking beside him.

“Nonsense, the shotgun is the most efficient way to kill. You’ve seen zombie movies. This is _the_ weapon of choice!”

“Because zombies can’t exactly shoot back!”

Stand. Shoot. Miss. Cover. 

“Son, you have your weapon, I have mine. And you just happen to be in perfect range of mine.”

“Uh, ok point taken. Why don't I go find cover somewhere else.”

And that was that. A few more rounds of ammo later, they had a prisoner, and took another complex, this time ending up with more injured soldiers than dead ones. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

When the smoke cleared, Carolina, Tucker, and Sarge regrouped to discuss their latest success.

“All right, boys. We used a hell of a lot of ammo, but it looks like there’s enough here to make up for it.” Carolina said.

“Kickass. Oh, we also went over what was in their computers. After sifting through lots, and I mean _lots_ , of pornos, we found a map to another complex. It isn’t far from here, either.”

“Did you save the file?” Carolina asked. 

“Of course! You don’t just delete good porn.”

“She meant the map, Tucker!” Church said, appearing beside his partner.

“Yeah sure, we got that too.” The teal soldier replied, this time less enthusiastic. 

Carolina sighed. “A nearby complex means they’ve probably already heard about the damage we did here.”

Sarge cocked his shotgun. “There’s nothing like a battle right after another battle! It’s like paintball on a Saturday afternoon. The kids just keep on comin'. When do we move out?”

“Hold on, Sarge. We have a lot of injured troops. But we can’t risk leaving the area in case the enemy retakes it.” Carolina said. “We called the Capital and they should send over Dr. Grey any-“

“Whoo! I never get tired of that.” came the cheerful voice of Emily as she arrived via teleporter.

“I swear every chick here is either crazy and hot, or crazy and not hot.” Tucker sighed.

“Which one am I?” Carolina teased.

“Yeah I learned a long time ago not to mess with any girl Church has been in.”

“Oh god, Tucker that’s disgusting! She’s like, my sister.” Church exclaimed.

“Hey I don’t judge.”

Sarge had already tuned out the conversation as Emily approached them. He had seen little of her the past few days he was in the Capital. Apparently ever since Wash took over training, more people were going to the hospital, with the weirdest excuses.

Who knew Grif was contagious?

“Hi there Colonel!” Emily said, with a bounce in her step.

Sarge couldn’t help but smile. “Nice to see you out of the hospital, darling. How’ve you been?”

“Bored! You know how many people came in whining about a sprained muscle today? And I didn’t even get to operate on anyone! Oh but enough about me, you get to shoot a space pirate? Blow their brains out with your shotgun?”

She was a woman after his own heart. “Nothing like that, I’m afraid.” He said.

“Awww! Well, maybe next time, then I could use their splattered remains in an experiment. It’s not like they’ll need it.”

Behind them Tucker made a “cuckoo” noise prompting Sarge to hit him on the head with a shotgun.

Then it was Carolina’s turn to speak. “We got a few injured here, doc. We’d appreciate it if we can have them ready before the day ends.”

Emily waved her off. “Oh sweetie, I’ll have them right as rain before night fall.”

She was walking away towards the tent the injured were in when Carolina called out, “I told you not to call me sweetie!" 

Though Sarge was disappointed that their riveting conversation was interrupted yet again, he had to admire how hard working she was.

“Like I told Caboose, don’t ever stick your dick in crazy.” Tucker said.

Sarge wanted to tell him that the doctor would sooner cut their dicks off than let that happen.

* * *

 

True to her word, Grey was done checking on everyone with the sun still up. She came out of the tent, helmet in hand, smiling. 

Sarge realized that was the first time he ever saw her face. He took note of her pale skin, and how fragile she looked, like she’s never been in a battlefield before. But her eyes told a different story, for all her optimism, he could see the dark rings and eye bags. She looked so young, and so old at the same time. 

Sarge thought she was beautiful.

Emily looked around, adjusting her eyes to the sunlight, before she spotted Sarge. She waved at him and he found himself walking towards her.

Up close, he noticed her eyes were brown, and that her hair was cut short, and jet black in color.

“What’s the diagnosis, doc?” He asked, for lack of anything else to say.

He saw how her eyes brightened, that she loved talking about her work. “Oh, they’ll be fine. A few bandages, a stitch here and there, and they’re ready to march into battle with you.”

“Excellent! Agent Carolina said we leave at dawn.” Then, he remembered something. “Does this mean you’ll be returning to the Capital now?”

Where her eyes were bright just a while ago, they seemed a little duller now.“Oh, I guess so. They probably need me back at the hospital.”

Sarge tightened the grip on his shotgun. That wasn’t the response he was looking for. So he tried a different approach.

“If they ain’t calling you in, then they don’t need you just yet, right?”

Her smile was wicked. “Are you saying-?”

“I never did get to tell you what I did with Simmons’ organs after I replaced them.”

Emily laughed. “Here I thought you were a stickler for the rules like a _good_ soldier, Colonel.”

“Li’l lady, first of all I am a _great_ soldier. But rarely is it that I find a genius just like me, to discuss the intricate study of robotics.” Sarge said. He probably went a little overboard, but then he felt the need to impress her.

She adjusted the grip on her helmet so she could loop her arm around Sarge’s. “Lead the way then, fellow genius.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

 “It doesn’t seem physically possible to do that to the human arm.” Emily said in awe as Sarge finished his story on Simmons 2.0 and Grif’s surgery.

“You should know by now, doc, that we Reds do the impossible every day.”

“That _is_ true.”

The two were seated on a crate of ammo, in the middle of the complex as soldiers buzzed around them following whatever Carolina ordered them to do. He had wanted to go somewhere a little less busy for her sake, but then you can only do so much on a battlefield.

It was strange, how even in the middle of war, in the environment Sarge felt the most at home, he couldn’t care less while Dr. Grey was sitting beside him, a twinkle in her eyes, and listing down scientific facts.

He was surprised at how fast their friendship grew, and how much he came to treasure it. The little time they had together when she wasn’t busy in the hospital and he wasn’t out on a mission, they spent talking about robotics, or she’d excitedly tell him about her next project while he told her about the days back in Blood Gulch. Plus, it was refreshing to finally talk to someone who wasn’t red, or worse, blue.

“You know,” Emily started, bringing Sarge out of his thoughts. “I bet I could increase the firepower of your shotgun. Maybe add a setting to make it a grenade launcher, too.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t let just anyone take my shotgun away from me, let alone tinker with it. Nope, it’s gotta be someone real special.”

Without her helmet on, Sarge could clearly see how expressive Emily's face could be, and at that moment she looked absolutely mischievous. “And what exactly must one do to be ‘real special’?”

“That depends…” Sarge decided to tease her further, getting in close and making his voice a little huskier. “How do you feel about killing Grif?”

Emily exploded in laughter, shoving him away. Sarge chuckled as well. When she finally calmed down she said, “I’ll have to pass. But let's make a deal. If Captain Grif dies on the field of battle, I will personally do the autopsy and you can help me use his body in tests. How’s that?”

“Hmmm… a dead Grif _is_ better than a live one. But, who knows what diseases he could be carrying. I’ll have to think about that offer.”

Emily smiled. “Good enough for me!”

Their conversation, unfortunately, was once again interrupted. Tucker and Carolina appeared, with Church floating alongside them.

“New plan, Sarge.” Carolina began. “Thanks to Dr. Grey’s quick work, we’ll be able to hit the next base tonight. Better to strike them now before they can make a counter attack. You up for it?”

He grabbed his shotgun and stood at attention. “You bet your blue bitchy ass I am.”

That earned him a kick to the gut. As he recovered, Carolina turned to Emily. “Dr. Grey, I think it’s best you teleport back to the Capital. Things are gonna get a bit dicey from here on out.”

“Fiiiiine. I guess I could continue my modifications on Freckles.” She too stood up, put her helmet back on and took out a “future cube.” Emily looked at Sarge first. “Good luck. You die, and I’ll kill you myself.”

Sarge laughed. “You got it, li’l lady. The first merc I kill, I’ll be thinking of you.”

“What the fuck? Is that… is that supposed to be _flirting_?” Tucker asked no one in particular.

“Bye!” Emily waved, throwing the future cube. And in a flash of white, she was gone.

* * *

 

Emily was back in the hospital, and as she was checking her 29th patient for that day, she couldn’t help but notice that Sarge never took off his helmet every time they’d talk. She decided to do something about that the next time he saw him.

“My stomach’s aching real bad, doc. I don’t think I can continue Agent Washington’s training today.” The soldier said, clutching his middle.

“I’ll tell you what I told everyone else that gave me that excuse. It’s either training or my operating table.”

In a span of four seconds, he was up, saluting her, and closing the door on his way out of her office.

 But she was left to her own thoughts again. Which made her think back to what Tucker said.

_Is that supposed to be flirting?_

It distracted her for about two minutes before she decided to think about it another day. Maybe over breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm lazy to write it down but Emily isn't wearing her helmet in this chapter, but I'll have descriptions for everyone else.  
> Also, Lopez's lines are bold, italicized, and written in English.

The adjustments she made to Freckles proved to be a success, if Caboose’s cheers and the lack of friendly fire were signs.

Emily was coming out of surgery when Wash and Caboose arrived, with the former freelancer pleading her to do something about Freckles before his blue friend’s team kill count increased.

And now Caboose was running around holding his “pet”, firing confetti at everyone.

“This is the best trick Freckles ever learned! Thank you non-mean lady!” Caboose said as he continued jumping around happily.

“Aww, you’re welcome Caboose! Hopefully everyone else here is as happy as you.”

“Come on, Freckles. We are going to go on so many adventures.”

“Yes, Captain Caboose.” Freckles replied in his robotic voice as he and his owner left.

Emily decided that was a great way to start her day.

She finally found time to train her staff so they could handle the less serious injuries, which meant that she was now free to help the research team out more. That, and she missed conversing with her friends.

Sarge was currently busy “upgrading” the warthogs, much to the terror of the rest of the army. But she understood his need to tinker, she was the same. It was just frustrating how, when one of them was free, the other one was working. Stupid universe.

She could visit him later. In the mean time maybe she could go ask Simmons how it feels like to be half metal, or Carolina and Wash about their implants. Or even Tucker about-

"Dr. Grey, move!” she heard a familiar female voice yell out, along with the sound of a moving vehicle.

Emily turned around to see newly appointed Lieutenant Katie Jensen, driving a mongoose straight for her really really _really_ fast.

Oh.

She quickly stepped aside as the mongoose passed her, feeling the wind from it graze her hair, if that was possible.

A scream from Katie, a crash sound, then nothing. The mongoose had turned over as Katie was trying to make a turn. Emily quickly rushed over to check up on her.

“Lieutenant! Are you all right? Are you hurt? Do you feel like you still have all your limbs attached?”

Emily saw someone slowly crawling out of the mongoose. Luckily there were other soldiers nearby who helped lift the heavy vehicle. “Ugh, aside from my sides hurting and my head spinning, I’m fine Dr. Grey.” Katie said as Emily helped her stand.

Emily took off the other girl’s helmet, revealing her long red hair and green eyes. She even had a few freckles on her face, which Emily thought was so adorable.

Oh right, she’s injured. Gushing over her can wait.

Dr. Grey examined her more closely, thankfully wearing her armor helped with any bruises.

“I’m fine Dr. Grey.” Katie said, smiling softly at her.

“Yeah, Jensen crashes vehicles all the time.” One soldier said, and was followed by a round of laughter from his peers.

Katie’s smile faded and suddenly Emily was furious. She turned to face the other soldiers. “And I seem to recall all of you going to my office asking to be excused from training. Agent Washington and I happen to be good friends, imagine what he’d do if I told him all about your ‘health issues’.”

That got them scrambling to leave the area. “Sorry Ma’am, we’ll be going.”

She looked at Katie again and saw the younger girl was smiling widely this time. “That was awesome, Dr. Grey!”

Emily laughed and waved her off, finally letting her stand by herself. “Well, a lot of men are intimidated by women who are smarter than them. And I’ve seen your work, Ms. Jensen, I know what you’re capable of.”

Katie lowered her head, hiding her blush. “I’m nothing compared to you, Ma’am. But, thanks, I like to think I do my best.”

Emily smiled fondly at her and handed back her helmet. Instead of putting it back on, Katie opted to tuck it under her arm. Dr. Grey looked past Katie, towards the mongoose.

“So, why exactly were you driving that thing?”

“Oh, I was supposed to bring it to Colonel Sarge. He wants to try and upgrade the mongooses now, too.”

“Of course he does.” Emily couldn’t help but smirk. “Well then, we’ll just have to tell him later that there’s one less mongoose to worry about.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Some time later, a few more soldiers, including Lopez and Donut, arrived to clean up the crash site.

 ** _"I keep telling everyone not to let her drive_** **."** Lopez said.

“Lopez that’s a great idea! It _is_ time we go and give the vehicles new paint jobs! It’ll be just like _Pimp My Ride_ , and I do love a good pimping, and a good ride!” Donut said cheerfully.

**_"Jesus, why did they pair me up with you?"_ **

“Let’s go, Lopez! We can record a montage of us painting, I’m thinking _Material Girl_ or _Got To Be Real_ for the song we can use in the music video.” Donut left with Lopez trailing behind him.

And just like that, Emily and Katie were left alone again.

“Dr. Grey?”

“Yes, Katie?”

“Just curious, can you understand Lopez?”

“Oh, yes! I had to learn Spanish to read more archaeology articles. It’s such a romantic language.” She actually learned 3 other languages, and then there was the alien text but she didn’t want to brag. Well, brag _that_ much.

“With all due respect, you didn’t want to translate for him?” Katie asked, politely and carefully.

“Well they already have their own little dynamic going on. It’s worked for years, who am I to ruin that?”

“Er, good point, ma’am.”

Emily genuinely liked Katie. Which is why when the lieutenant shyly asked her if they could have lunch together, she accepted it.

* * *

 

Roughly two hours later, Emily finished telling Katie about the latter’s captain being a cyborg. Everyone else was bound to find out sooner or later

“Do you think he’s metal down there, too?” Jensen asked, eyes wide and full of wonder at all the new information.

Emily shrugged and gave the girl a wink. “Why not ask him yourself?”

Katie blinked.

“Oh, hey there ladies!” Simmons said, walking by them with a tray in hand. He paused when his gaze landed on Katie.

“Jensen! It’s nice to see your face, for once. I mean, it’s always nice to see your face, I just meant that seeing your face _face_ is nice. I mean, your face _face_ is nice or- gah!” He bolted as fast as he could towards the table where Grif was, already on his fourth plate.

Emily and Katie laughed.

“He does that a lot while I help him out with tech stuff, too.” Katie said.

“That must make working with him a lot of fun!” Emily teased.

“What can I say? He’s a great captain to follow, they all are.”

Emily couldn’t agree more. As she saw the other groups of soldiers approach their captains in the cafeteria, she felt like that was the first time in years they were all actually inspired to fight.

She was just happy to witness it as well.

“Actually, Dr. Grey, I have a really huge favor to ask.” Katie said, tucking her hair behind her ear before continuing. “Smith, Bitters, Palomo, and I are all lieutenants, and are responsible for a lot more people now. But, none of us have the right medical training. What if something happens and we don’t have a medic on our team? Maybe if I could…”

Emily smiled at the other girl’s sweet gesture. “Lt. Jensen, of course I’ll teach you. Plus you’re already very intelligent, it’ll be easy and I love spending time with you anyway!” Back in the Federal Army, it was rare for her to find friends. The person she was closest to was General Doyle. And as much as Emily liked him, it was nice to have a ‘gal pal’ sometimes. Maybe she could try talking to Kimball and Carolina next.

The younger girl blushed. “Thanks, Dr. Grey! That’d be great. I could come visit when we’re off duty or-“

“Jensen! Jensen!” A soldier with the standard New Republic uniform with teal streaks stood by their table, interrupting Katie.

“Ugh, what is it, Palomo?” Katie groaned.

Palomo stopped to catch his breath before answering. “Agent Washington knows about you crashing the mongoose. First, he’s asking if you’re all right, and if you are, we’re to report to him immediately. He calls it ‘special lieutenant’ training. You think he’s gonna teach us special freelancer moves?”

“Only one way to find out. I’ll be right behind you.” She said, waving him off.

“Okie dokie! I love your hair by the way. Oh, and hi Dr. Grey, bye Dr. Grey!” Palomo left as quickly as he arrived. Probably excited for whatever Wash had in store for them.

Emily looked at Katie and saw her fixing her hair again.

“He always says he loves my hair, even when it’s messy or charred from a fire hazard. I don’t know why though.” Katie looked like she was trying to solve an extremely intricate puzzle. Emily was happy for the young lieutenant, it was hard to find a guy like Palomo these days. But that was something Katie needed to realize by herself.

“Maybe he really does love your hair. Is there something you like about him?”

The answer was immediate. “He’s sweet. More than most guys here.”

And Emily thought it was Simmons the young girl liked. She hoped it worked out for them.

Katie got her helmet and put it back on. “I better get going. It was really nice talking to you, Dr. Grey. I’m glad you’re on our side now.” She left before Emily could say the same about her.

The doctor looked down at her food, realizing there was still a lot left. But after spending time with Katie, eating alone didn’t feel like an option anymore. Emily saw Simmons and Grif seated very closely together. She thought for a moment before standing up and leaving, bringing her food and an extra tray with her.

* * *

 

The storage room for vehicles was empty, save for a pair of red armored legs under a warthog.

“Is that you, Simmons?” A gruff voice asked. “You better have brought me the right screwdriver this time. Don’t make me ask you to ask Donut for one!”

Emily held back a laugh. “I’m not Simmons, and I didn’t bring tools, just food.”

Suddenly she was greeted, not by his visor, but by his actual face. She was stunned by how strong he looked, if that was possible. He was a bit tan, with greying hair, a 5 o’clock shadow, and as to be expected, a military crew cut, just a little bit longer than normal.

Emily must’ve stared, as Sarge started laughing. “What? Not what you expected?” he teased, but Emily could hear the hesitance in his voice.

“Yeah.” He frowned at her. “I was thinking you’d have more scars on your face.”

She heard him breathe a sigh of relief. “And risk this moneymaker?” He finally stood up, wiping the grease off his face with a towel. “What brings you here, doc? Miss me already?”

Emily chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself, Colonel. I just needed to make sure you didn’t damage the vehicles too much. I have enough unnecessary injuries to take care of.” She pushed the extra tray towards him. “And, I knew that if you were anything like me, you would’ve skipped meals today. So…” It was true. Emily often forgot to eat until it was late at night, if she was kept busy enough. It didn’t surprise her that Sarge was the same.

The colonel smiled at her, taking the tray. “Well who am I to refuse an offer from a lady? Thanks, doc.”

He pulled out two stools and they sat beside each other, their trays on the workbench.

“I was with Lieutenant Jensen a while ago, apparently you asked to see the mongooses as well?” she asked, taking a bite from her sandwich.

“Yes! Y’see, as I was improving the warthogs here with heavier artillery and rocket launchers-“

“Rocket launchers?”

“-It got me thinking, what if, we added tank-grade shells to our smaller vehicles? The enemy will never expect it.”

Emily stifled a chuckle. “Won’t that make the mongooses slower? And then they’d be a little bigger, too.”

He grinned at her. “Not if we add boosters to them! Imagine, we’d have our very own mini-tanks! Their alien tech can suck it!”

His enthusiasm was infectious. It got Emily to wonder about the possibilities as well. “Oh, oh! I bet if we find just one alien laser rifle, I could study the technology, and outfit it to the vehicles, too. We’d literally leave a trail of our enemy’s ashes behind us!”

That made Sarge hit the table with his fist. “Damn, doc that’s the best idea I’ve heard this whole week! There’s nothing like the thought of incinerating space pirates that gets the blood pumpin’.”

Emily loved how his eyes lit up at just discussing it with her. She knew that he was much older than her, but his optimism made him look ten years younger.

“Speaking of which,” he suddenly said. “Where _is_ the mongoose Jensen was supposed to bring me?”

Oh, right.

“Try to guess. This is Jensen we’re talking about.”

“She crashed it, didn’t she?”

“Completely totaled it.”

Sarge sighed. “Well, it may be for the best. I’m not done with the warthog anyway.”

As Sarge took another bite from his own food, Emily couldn’t help but think back to what she had told Katie right after her accident. It bothered her why she wanted to bring it up with him.

But she did anyway.

“Colonel, you’ve been around women like Tex and Carolina-”

“If you’re gonna ask me if I ever hooked up with them, I follow Tucker’s golden rule about that.”

“Please, like those two would’ve let you anywhere near them.” she teased, which made him grunt before she continued. “Actually, do you feel that men don’t go near them because they’re intimidated that they’re stronger and smarter?”

He stared at his food before turning to look at her. “Men, especially soldiers, should never be afraid of anything. So what if a woman can fight better? That just means they have to work harder to be on par with them.”

Emily didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he was done speaking. She should never have doubted that he’d be different from the rest.

“Why? Anyone trying to hit on you? I can tell you now, they have a long way to go before they can be on your level.”

That actually made her blush. “No, nothing like that. It’s kind of hard to flirt with a girl who’s already seen you naked on her operating table.” She joked, but it still kinda sucked that it was true.

“If they get injured that badly, it just means they’re not strong enough to defend you in battle. Protecting the medic is the job that sees the second most action! The first one being the front lines, of course.”

A lot of people thought the Colonel was senile, or delusional. They were wrong. He was just eccentric, and she could relate to that.

“Thanks Colonel. And knowing how much you love action, next time I’m needed on the field, I’ll volunteer you to be my personal guard.” She smiled at him. “Just be sure to bring that sexy shotgun of yours.”

Sarge chuckled. “And here I thought my charm and good looks were enough for ‘ya.”

“Oh, I get enough of that from Tucker.” Emily joked.

“Darlin’, if Aquaman is enough to get you goin ‘then I seriously think you need to get your head checked.”

Emily burst out laughing.

They spent the rest of the afternoon together discussing various upgrades and modifications to not only vehicles, but also weapons and armor. Sarge even pitched the idea of adding a laser eye to Simmons.

It was late when someone finally brought in a mongoose. And as much as Emily wanted to the colonel out, the hospital needed her. As she picked up her helmet, which was right beside Sarge’s on the workbench, she noticed that neither of them finished their food. She smiled.

They could attempt to eat together again some other time.


End file.
